Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel (2 July 1834 – 4 June 1913), was a British industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal politician. He sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire between 1880 and 1894, and was recognised as the leader of the Welsh MPs. He was a benefactor to the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth and served as its president from 1895 to 1913.
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Background and education
Rendel was born at Plymouth, Devon, the son of the civil engineer James Meadows Rendel and his wife Catherine Jane, daughter of W. J. Harris. He was the brother of civil engineers Alexander Meadows Rendel and Hamilton Owen Rendel, and of naval architect George Wightwick Rendel. Educated at Eton College, Rendel then attended Oriel College, Oxford, graduating in 1856 with a fourth-class degree in classical studies. He was called to the Bar in 1861, but was mostly involved in engineering, becoming manager of the London branch of Armstrong Mitchell, the engineering company specialising in hydraulic power for civil engineering projects.
Political career
Rendel was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire between 1880 and his retirement in March 1894. Although an Englishman and an Anglican, he was popular in his Welsh-speaking constituency, and was nicknamed "the member for Wales" because of his vocal support for Welsh-related causes, such as the creation of the University of Wales. A close friend and associate of William Ewart Gladstone, he was recognised as the leader of the Welsh members of parliament. He also supported disestablishment. On his retirement from the House of Commons in 1894 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Rendel, of Hatchlands in the County of Surrey. Apart from his political career, Rendel was a benefactor to the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth and served as its president from 1895 to 1913. He donated land for the establishment of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, where many of his papers have been deposited.